Beethoven String Quartets
Rob
through those. I have a specific question though. I am looking for a cycle
recorded in good digital sound. I am considering:
Tokyo
Emerson
Cleveland
It doesn't have to be a complete set of one (ie. middle quartets by Emerson and
late by Tokyo).
Thanks for your help,
Rob
St. Louis, MO
John Myerscough
interpretations and the playing is nigh on perfect. It's on EMI - catologue
number: 5 73606
Rob <nos...@newsranger.com> wrote in message
news:cLPM6.5452$6j3.4...@www.newsranger.com...
Simon Roberts
: I know that there were a number of threads on this in the past, and I've read
: through those. I have a specific question though. I am looking for a cycle
: recorded in good digital sound. I am considering:
: Tokyo
: Emerson
: Cleveland
: It doesn't have to be a complete set of one (ie. middle quartets by Emerson and
: late by Tokyo).
If I were to choose from among those three, I would skip the Tokyo, who
are rather too relaxed and genteel for my taste. The Cleveland are all
extremely well played and recorded, but several of their performances lack
fire. I would take the Emerson, though I have a few reservations such as
their rather prominent vibrato and lack of "innigkeit" in slow movements
(but that's true of most recent performances). You should also consider a
few other recent recordings: the Orford Qt's op. 131, the handful of
Beethoven quartets recorded by the Hagen Qt on DG (these you'll have to
import from MDT or some such source), and, should you find these anywhere,
just about any of the Musikverein Qt's series on Platz.
Simon
JRsnfld
: Emerson
: Cleveland
: It doesn't have to be a complete set of one (ie. middle quartets by Emerson
and
: late by Tokyo).>>
Of these I have only heard the late quartets with the Tokyo. I think they are
excellent--certainly, the playing is beautiful. Among digital cycles, try
instead the early 80s set with the Smetana Quartet, on Denon/Supraphon.
--Jeff
ulvi
>
> I know that there were a number of threads on this in the past, and I've read
> through those. I have a specific question though. I am looking for a cycle
> recorded in good digital sound. I am considering:
> Tokyo
> Emerson
> Cleveland
> It doesn't have to be a complete set of one (ie. middle quartets by Emerson and
> late by Tokyo).
Middle quartets by Emersons is a very good idea, late quartets by Tokyo is not such
a good idea. Instead, get the early quartets by Tokyo (Op. 18 coupled with the
string quintet), in very good digital sound.
If you want to restrict yourself to best sound (esp. digital) you rule out the
best performances of the late qts. At any rate, the Melos on DG and the cheap
Alban Berg series of the late qts. are quite good as perfs., and they are DDD.
--
Ulvi
ulvi.yu...@jpl.nasa.gov
William D. Kasimer
>At any rate, the Melos on DG and the cheap Alban Berg series of the late qts.
>are quite good as perfs., and they are DDD.
The Melos is out of print (worldwide, not just in the USA), but seems to be
findable (at least, I've been able to find all three sets). I believe that
the ABQ late quartets may still be available separately on a couple of very
cheap EMI Redline CD's.
Of the three mentioned in the original request, I'd pick the Emerson over
the
Tokyo, who are technically excellent and well recorded, but quite bland (at
least in the middle and late quartets; I haven't heard their early set).
I've
seen copies of the Tokyo, both complete and in parts, in nearly every used
CD
store in the Boston area.
Bill
William D. Kasimer
wkas...@quincymc.org
wkas...@mediaone.net
CBailis
are excellent--certainly, the playing is beautiful. >>
You won't go wrong buying all 16 by the Tokyo. It's hard to decide which ones
are best, all are so beautifully played.
David7Gable
>recorded in good digital sound.
Good sound is not an entirely unreasonable criterion for a recording, but it
shouldn't be the first, and while there are a few DDD recordings out there that
do feature reasonably good sound, there are even more analog ones that do.
Moreover, string quartets are much easier to record well than, say, the piano.
The engineers would almost have to work at it to sabotage a string quartet
recording.
No way would Tokyo, Emerson, or Cleveland be anything like a first choice for
me.
-david gable
Sander Verheule
>On 17 May 2001 23:25:42 GMT, david...@aol.com (David7Gable) wrote:
>
>>>. I am looking for a cycle
>>>recorded in good digital sound.
>>
>>Moreover, string quartets are much easier to record well than, say, the piano.
>>The engineers would almost have to work at it to sabotage a string quartet
>>recording.
>
>Just listen to the Vegh cycle and you may want to rethink that.
Yes, but the Vegh cycle recorded secretly, with a microphone hidden in
the cello.
Joseph Henry
>Try the complete quartets by the Alban Berg Quartet. They are fantstic
>interpretations and the playing is nigh on perfect.
And it's only about $18 at Amazon.de (for 7 discs)!
Joseph Henry
Sander Verheule
It's baaack!
continuo
message from Rob <nos...@newsranger.com> :
How is the Medici regarded (nimbus box)? As an impoverished student,
this is my only recording, but it seems acceptable...
Adrian
David R L Porter
from sver...@iupui.edu (Sander Verheule) contains these words:
> Yes, but the Vegh cycle recorded secretly, with a microphone hidden in
> the cello.
Did anyone ever hear the Saga LP of the Borodin String Quartet
without microphones - just electronic sensors attached to the bridges?
Now that's what I call music :((((((
--
Best wishes,
Lena
These choices wouldn't be mine, but I don't have your sound requirements.
The Tokyo is a bit too uniformly relaxed for my taste and, perhaps worse,
they phrased too much "in the small" in the late quartets I've
heard. However - this style might well sound very good in the early or
middle quartets (I haven't heard the Tokyo versions of these) -
individual short phrases were often quite beautifully done. (In the late
quartets I just didn't feel they linked phrases together into an overall view
I bought into.)
The Emerson Quartet's playing is fast, energetic, and alternates
between the driven and the lyrical (and sometimes both at once). On
the negative side, I find their sound uniform, too violin-dominated
for my taste, and they can be overly unrelaxed (sort of the opposite
of the Tokyo); to me, this is a detriment in works which have a lot of
alternation, with energetic and broader segments. That said, I generally
like them, and there are some excellent movements in this set. I
don't like their very hectic middle quartets as much as the late; those
ones are the only ones available separately.
The Cleveland, which I've also heard only in part, is not at all
uninteresting. They might be a good middle ground between the two
above; they have a nice sense of enthusiastic energy, plus the ability
to slow it down a few notches also; the overall "grasp" of a movement
is often very good, and the instrument balance too. But they can also
be rhythmically staid, their phrasing can be too regular at times, and
they don't vary their sound a lot, which gives an impression of
overall uniformity and may bore you.
So I might do the following instead of getting any of the above. I'd
get the atrociously cheap Alban Berg Quartet integral set, and
handpick another set for the late quartets (tastes vary wildly in
these; see google for previous threads).
I do *not* like the Alban Berg in the late quartets (or rather, I
think they're no more than OK in them), but their early quartets are
among the best. I haven't heard their middle ones, but the word is
they work as well. The Alban Berg in the early have very nice,
natural singing quality, pretty good balance, often extremely good
phrasing, which varies enough to delineate the progress of the
movement well. They're not the height of spontaneity, but better than
most quartets, a good mix of breadth and a sense of momentum.
(As a bland generalization, they seem better in sections driven by
interlocking phrases than with sections consisting of a lot of
developmental material. In the late quartets they can start out fine
and then simply get lost...)
Then, if you're still interested in looking at the three choices above,
Cleveland and Tokyo CDs can be obtained individually.
Good luck,
Lena
e-mail: lord_e...@my-deja.com
(also: blenkinso...@yahoo.com)
JTT
"CBailis" <cba...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010517182442...@ng-fm1.aol.com...
I like the late Lindsays for their expressive power, the middle Emerson's
for their technical brilliance. I am still looking for my early favorites.
horizon
gravitas personified. And the recordings are fine, even through very good
headphones and a headphone amp.
Matt C
JTT
matter of taste, so you really need to hear several performances.
James
"Joseph Henry" <jhenr...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010517212520...@ng-cj1.aol.com...
Joseph Henry
>>And it's only about $18 at Amazon.de (for 7 discs)!
>>
>>Joseph Henry
>
>
>It's baaack!
Actually, that was the "corrected" price I got it for. It's roughly on par
with other European e-tailers.
Joseph Henry
Nicolas Hodges
>On Fri, 18 May 2001 23:37:55 GMT, "horizon" <mcarn...@nyc.rr.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Digital, non-digital, whatever...give me the Quartetto Italiano. They are
>>gravitas personified. And the recordings are fine, even through very good
>>headphones and a headphone amp.
>>
>
>acclaim on the Italians' Beethoven. Yes, gravitas. Yes, they get as
>much out of the quartets as anyone else I've heard (mono, stereo, ddd,
>aad, wire recorders, et al).
In order to make that comment more meaningful, can you, in the best rmcr
traditions, tell us what else you've heard?
--
Nic
David Wake
> Digital, non-digital, whatever...give me the Quartetto Italiano.
> They are gravitas personified.
>
Is that meant as a recommendation...?
David
Nicolas Hodges
>expectations. Armed with early LP transfers of the Busch and Budapest
And what did you think of them? And what do you think of Vegh,
Juilliard, ABQ (both), Hungarian, Smetana... I genuinely want to know:
it might explain to me why you like the Italians so much.
--
Nic
'It may happen that a young man will take up his pen in defence of some music
which has presented him with an agreeable experience. Let him beware, for he is
embarked on an infinitely frustrating illusion: namely, that music may find a
true friend in words.'
Nicolas Hodges
>On Mon, 21 May 2001 09:22:02 +0100, Nicolas Hodges
><n...@nicolashodges.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>And what did you think of them? And what do you think of Vegh,
>>Juilliard, ABQ (both), Hungarian, Smetana... I genuinely want to know:
>>it might explain to me why you like the Italians so much.
>
>in substantive discourse. Quite convenient editing of the chap's answer
>in your
>pseudo-Socratic response, wouldn't you say? Why not inform us of nic's
>preference(s) in learned detail so that we may benefit from your own
>unique POV.
I thought the idea of rmcr was to discuss recordings, not just to state
a preference and then refuse further discussion. Thank you for
disabusing me of that belief.
>Or is that counter to the ways of a usenet troll?
I wouldn't know. You are using webmail and don't appear to have posted
here before. So who's the troll?
--
Nic
Andrys Basten
Nicolas Hodges <n...@nicolashodges.demon.co.uk> wrote:
To:
>>Or is that counter to the ways of a usenet troll?
>
>I wouldn't know. You are using webmail and don't appear to have posted
>here before. So who's the troll?
>--
>Nic
For sure. Not only webmail but Cotse, which is for 'anonymous'
browsing and posting so no one can trace your ISP. It's used when
you don't want anyone to know who you are. I wouldn't use it for
posting since I stand behind what I say, but I can see where he
might not want to.
I'm not sure though what you meant by "the Italians" -- but will
read more.
- A
--
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Matt Barker
Alban Berg Quartet
They are the finest quartet in Europe and are one of the few remaining that have
the "Viennese Sound." Their performance level of Beethoven runs rings around both
Juilliard and Guarneri in their prime. They are took up where the Quartetto
Italiano left off, and my opinion took it to the next level. The cycle is solid
from early through late, which is rare when you look at all of the other cycles
out there (Tokyo, Emerson, etc..), and although I do have a fondness for the
Emerson Quartet regarding specific Beethoven quartets, the ABQ edges them out
pound for pound.
Vermeer Quartet
The early and middle quartets are performed with such refinement that it leaves
you wondering how four musicians can operate so well as one unified enitity. Both
the op. 18 collection and the Rasumovsky quartets at times surpass even the Alban
Berg Quartet. The late quartets leave me less impressed, but it is still
remarkable playing. They have a complete set in three volumes on Teldec.
Regardless of the sound, I would still recommend buying the late quartets
performed by the Hollywood String Quartet on Testament, and if you can find them
the Busch Quartet made some of the deepest recordings ever of the Beethoven
quartets over half a century ago.
For those who are true collectors and don't mind ordering CDs from Japan, you can
get old recordings of the Lener Quartet that redifine excellence.
Matt Barker
mba...@kusc.org
William D. Kasimer
Matt Barker <bullf...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3B1B60B5...@earthlink.net...
> For a good sounding complete set there are really only two choices:
>
> Alban Berg Quartet
Which set - the earlier studio one, or the more recent live set?
Bill
--
====================
William D. Kasimer
wkas...@mediaone.net
wkas...@quincymc.org
Matthew Silverstein
> For a good sounding complete set there are really only
> two choices:
>
> Alban Berg Quartet [snip]
Which one? They've recorded it twice, I believe.
Matty
Frank Galvin
In article <3B1B60B5...@earthlink.net>, Matt Barker
>
> Regardless of the sound, I would still recommend buying the late
> quartets performed by the Hollywood String Quartet on Testament, and if
> you can find them the Busch Quartet made some of the deepest recordings
> ever of the Beethoven quartets over half a century ago.
Indeed to both. But I've yet to hear a Hollywood recording in
which the sound is all that bad. And if anyone interested has
overlooked the Testament Schoenberg/Schubert disc, don't wait
another minute.
Best,
Frank